Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993 TAG: 9307150147
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
This weekend, 640 competitors representing 26 swim teams from across the state will hit the pool in Bisset Park during the Virginia Summer Awards swim meet, the state's largest U.S. Swimming-sanctioned summertime gathering.
Boys and girls ages 6-18 will compete in 114 separate events during the three-day meet, which begins Friday at 2:30 p.m. and continues all day Saturday and Sunday.
At stake are state championships in U.S. Swimming's B and C classifications - categories open to swimmers who haven't registered class A (read: "faster") times in their individual events - and berths to the Virginia Long Course Nationals at Richmond's Riverside Wellness Center in two weeks.
The Southwest Aquatic Team made up mostly of swimmers from the New River Valley, boasts the meet's second-biggest contingent with 60 participants. Richmond's 63-member Poseidon Swim Team is the largest squad.
"We're hoping to qualify five or six swimmers for the [Long Course Nationals]," said SWAT head coach Bill Beecher, who also serves as the meet's director.
That number would be higher, Beecher said, but most SWAT swimmers will skip the Long Course nationals in order to compete in the prestigious City-County meet of the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association scheduled that same weekend - July 30-31 - in Radford University's Dedmon Center natatorium.
Also taking the plunge this weekend will be at least five teams from Richmond, six teams from the coast including three from Norfolk, and two teams from Roanoke.
"Our kids get really excited about other teams from around the state coming here," said Beecher. "We travel so much during the year, it's nice to have the rest of the state come to see us."
Beecher, a former Virginia Tech swimming coach and the current Dedmon Center swimming pool director, helped bring the Virginia Summer Awards to Radford and its Olympic-sized 50-meter pool in 1991. The meet has drawn more swimmers and more spectators each year since coming to Radford.
"I think this [meet] has been an excellent financial boon to the community," said Beecher. "Almost all of the kids bring their parents with them, and they all stay in town and eat in town. I'd say this meet makes a fairly large economic impact on our community."
For the second straight year, the Virginia Summer Awards swim meet coincides with the city's annual Riverfest celebration, which takes place Saturday in Bisset Park.
"The kids love swimming while Riverfest is going on," said Beecher. Riverfest "gives the kids something to do when they're not swimming. They can take the families with them and have fun in the park."
by CNB